Skip to content
  • Science
  • Politics
  • Justice & Health
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Clean Energy
  • ICN Local
  • Projects
  • Impact
  • About Us
Inside Climate News
Pulitzer Prize-winning, nonpartisan reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet.
Donate
Trump 2.0: The Reckoning
Inside Climate News
Donate

Search

  • Science
  • Politics
  • Justice & Health
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Clean Energy
  • ICN Local
  • Projects
  • Impact
  • About Us
  • Newsletters
  • ICN Sunday Morning
  • Contact Us

Topics

  • A.I. & Data Centers
  • Activism
  • Arctic
  • Biodiversity & Conservation
  • Business & Finance
  • Climate Law & Liability
  • Climate Treaties
  • Denial & Misinformation
  • Environment & Health
  • Extreme Weather
  • Food & Agriculture
  • Fracking
  • Nuclear
  • Pipelines
  • Plastics
  • Public Lands
  • Regulation
  • Super-Pollutants
  • Water/Drought
  • Wildfires

Information

  • About
  • Job Openings
  • Reporting Network
  • Whistleblowers
  • Memberships
  • Ways to Give
  • Fellows & Fellowships

Publications

  • E-Books
  • Documents

Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act

Mining Companies Say They Have a Better Way to Get Underground Lithium, but Skepticism Remains

Direct lithium extraction has been touted as a more environmentally friendly way to mine the resource needed for EV batteries. But the technology is largely untested and could impact already limited water supplies in the Southwest.

By Wyatt Myskow

Trucks pump and haul spilled water away from a test mining drill site on March 8 in Green River, Utah. Residents are worried over how the Direct Lithium Extraction mine—and any spills caused by it—could impact local water supplies. Credit: Kelly Dunham

Newsletters

We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else. Every day or once a week, our original stories and digest of the web's top headlines deliver the full story, for free.

Keep Environmental Journalism Alive

ICN provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going.

Donate Now
Inside Climate News
  • Science
  • Politics
  • Justice & Health
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Clean Energy
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Whistleblowers
  • Privacy Policy
  • Charity Navigator
Inside Climate News uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept this policy. Learn More